Category: Fine Chemicals

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client produces polymers by polyesterification on several sites all over the world. He wants to reduce esterification time by optimizing mixing of reactants and distillation of light products. This has to be done for each site. PROJECT METHODOLOGY Processium diagnoses the hydrodynamics regime of each reactor. Based on hydrodynamics regime and impeller design, Processium proposes other impellers. A sizing of each new impeller is proposed. Solutions are compared and ranked. A new impeller and its sizing is chosen with the client. Distillation mode are not the same, depending on the site. Especially, regulation mode are not the same. Processium proposes a standard of regulation mode to ensure process robustness. A new packing is also proposed, to ensure distillate quality. RESULTS The process is optimized via change of impellers…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our customer wishes to characterize thermophysical properties (heat capacity, vapour pressure, viscosity, density, thermal conductivity, etc.) of new heat transfer fluids used in a wide range of temperatures. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES Our teams of experts conducted tests on the fluids with in mind the temperature dependence of each property in order to optimise the number of experimental points to reduce the cost for the client. RESULTS A complete mapping of physical properties to provide technical datasheet of each thermal fluid.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our customer wishes to know the kinetic of deactivation of its catalyst under industrial conditions in order to adapt the sizing of corresponding process accordingly. In addition to this, the definition of the frequency of replacement of the catalyst was also an issue to secure productivity. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES Test should be performed continuously over hundreds of hours on a reactive mixture under conditions which precisely represent the operating conditions (temperatures over 250°C and pressures of 6 bar). The test needed to implement a dedicated bench to test the catalyst in continuous mode. OUR METHODOLOGY Design and development of a continuous reaction bench equipped with a tubular reactor working in conditions close to those of the process (6 bar and 250°C). Regular sampling from the reactor for 30 days.…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION A client has developed a new chemical product whose synthesis is carried out on Client plant. For a specific market, specifications of product requests a 95% purity, knowing that main by-product is an isomer of the product. Existing unit is not designed to reach such a purity. Client request is to define technical feasibility of the purification and the sampling of the pure product. OUR METHODOLOGY Processium compared two possible purification technologies: melt crystallization and distillation. It appeared that vacuum distillation led to best results regarding yield and purity. Using its own laboratory equipment, Processium distillated 5 kg of raw product on batch mode on a 30 theoretical stages column, at 5 mbar. At the end, 3.6 kg of product at 95.5% purity were produced. RESULTS Processium produced requested quantity and quality of…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Project is to design and to develop a new unit able to separate two solvents (alcohol and ketone) mixed with salts and water with a 99.9% specification on purity. OUR METHODOLOGY The methodology developed by Processium was based on: Issue a thermodynamics diagnosis. Process synthesis to propose processes based on pressure swing distillation, liquid-liquid extraction, extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation. Sizing of the best process. Laboratory and pilot scale validation of process sizing. Production of samples. RESULTS On the basis of technical package issued by Processium, the new unit had been built is still running.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Client wishes to implement a new chemical reaction on industrial site under the SEVESO directive. Processium brought them its know-how into thermal analyses to evaluate the risks of thermal runaway of this reaction. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES The challenges met in this project are the following ones: Non-available physico-chemical data, Complex products implementation, Measurements under pressure up to about 5 bar. OUR METHODOLOGY Processium carries out this study from drawing-up the specifications to the measurements of all properties: Vapor pressure of reagents and products, Thermal stability: decomposition temperature (Tonset), time to maximum rate (TMRad), Reaction kinetics, Reaction enthalpy, Heat capacity, Maximum Temperature of the Synthesis Reaction (MTSR), Nature and gas flow released during the reaction. RESULTS The measured data define the level of criticality of the chemical reaction and…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The objective of this study is to acquire data to design an extractive distillation process for separating light hydrocarbons. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES A key element of success in the study is the measurement of vapor-liquid equilibria at pressures of 2 to 5 bar, to determine the liquid and vapor compositions in a mixture of heavy and light components (boiling point difference > 230°C). OUR METHODOLOGY We undertook this study by: Developing efficient analytic methods, Developing a suitable experimental strategy to acquire measurements in line with customer’s project and time constraints. RESULTS The measurements were carried out successfully in our labs, and Processium was able to provide: A feedback on notable issues encountered, particularly degeneration of seals or corrosion problems Data values which allowed our customers to better understand their…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client conducted a study of biodiesel conversion and separation in which our teams provided essential thermodynamic expertise for the design of the process. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES The objective of this study was to obtain liquid-liquid-vapour equilibria measurements for a complex mixture. This study involved: Thermodynamic measurements on viscous mixtures at high pressure Very complex sampling protocol as a result of the differences in volatility of the compounds (methanol-glycerol) and the operating conditions A complex analysis process due to the nature (vegetable oil) and the physical properties of the compounds OUR METHODOLOGY Processium successfully completed this study by using: A customized experimental strategyallowing timely data acquisition in line with client project requirements Objectivity and a wider perspectivein interpreting the obtained results to precisely understand the behaviour of client compounds.…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client, a manufacturer of synthetic oils, wishes to determinate the vapor pressure and the boiling point of oil’s constituents in order to design and optimize their production processes. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES The challenges met in this project are the following ones: Presence of considerable number of compounds in each oil, whose properties are unknown (high cost for carrying out measurements) Difficulty of separation and purification of these synthetic oils: it is impossible to access to pure compound OUR METHODOLOGY The method of physico-chemical data prediction, specifically developed for this project, allows to free itself from properties measurement of these products. It consists in the following steps: Definition of a customized decomposition method for these synthetic oils Evaluation and sorting of available data based on the specifications. The e-thermoTM…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client has developed a production process of organic acids by fermentation. Organic acids need to be extracted and purify from the broth using a solvent extraction technology. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES In order to satisfy client requirements for its Project, Processium had to to identify a bio-based solvent for the extraction of acids and able to preserve microbes used for fermentation. OUR METHODOLOGY The methodology developed by Processium for the successful development of the Project had been developed as follow: screening of in - house database containing more than 1,000 industrial solvents data sets, identification of additional candidate determined thanks to a specific Computer Aided Molecular Design tool, modeling of solvent properties and prediction of missing data, identification of 5 solvents and measurement of distribution coefficients, performance evaluation of solvents…